Despite loss, Delco’s DiLoreto homers on unforgettable day

PHILADELPHIA >> Don DiLoreto isn’t likely to forget Tuesday’s bottom of the eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park anytime soon. Nor will his Delaware County teammates forget their dugout visitor earlier in the afternoon.

The final score — a 5-4 loss to Suburban One American/Continental in the semifinals of the Carpenter Cup Classic — won’t be cherished long. The sting of defeat will fade with time, but the moments embellishing that game for DiLoreto and many others are indelible.

The Harriton junior jolted Delco out of the dugout in the bottom of the eighth, clubbing a homer into the flower boxes beyond the Xfinity sign in left field for a two-run homer that tied the game at 4.

It was an at-bat that DiLoreto won’t soon forget.

“At first, I was like, this has a chance,” he said. “I knew I stroked it pretty hard. But once I saw it go out, you can’t really fathom how much elation it is. It’s honestly the best feeling I can have. Being able to homer here is probably the greatest thing in the world, and I can’t pick out any better feeling right now.”

That homer answered a towering shot by Wissahickon’s Alex Tappen in the top of the eighth, a mammoth solo blast 10 rows deep to left-center that extended Suburban One’s lead to 4-2 and appeared to be a bridge too far for a Delco offense that collected hits aplenty but couldn’t string them together into rallies.

DiLoreto, though, had other ideas, avenging the homer given up by Harriton teammate Jonah Frankel and theoretically swinging the pendulum of momentum to Delco.

“All of the momentum comes on to our side,” Delco starting pitcher Jared Morris said. “We know that we have the game at that point in time. For him to do something like that is just unreal.”

PHOTOS: Delco vs. Suburban One American/Continental

But Suburban One, which will play for its first Carpenter Cup crown Friday morning against the Philadelphia Catholic League, wouldn’t follow the script. It surged ahead in the top of the ninth when Nate O’Donnell led off with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch delivered by Frankel that Strath Haven catcher David Shore got a lot — but not enough — of a back-handed mitt on to allow the North Penn second baseman to scoot home.

The loss marred an otherwise eventful day for Delco, which got a visit in the fourth inning from Phillies No. 1 overall draft pick Mickey Moniak 20 minutes before the outfielder’s introductory press conference. The 18-year-old outfielder from Southern California graciously posed for pictures with players occupying the benches he hopes to call home as a Phillie someday.

Delco taking picks with Mickey Moniak, Phillies No. 1 overall pick. pic.twitter.com/sZkZoKfEYa

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) June 21, 2016

That memory on the sidelines is more enduring than what was occurring simultaneously on the field, as Suburban One’s Blake Gular (Souderton) doubled and scored on an infield groundout by Central Bucks West’s Steven Gebre to erase an early 2-0 Delco lead.

As it has all tournament, the Delco lineup was lively, rapping out 12 hits from 12 different players and eight spots in the order. But too often, runs failed to materialize from those opportunities, Delco stranding eight runners en route to a third straight semifinals ouster.

“Every time you go up there, you’ve just got to stay cool and hit the ball hard,” Penncrest designated hitter Sam Freedman said. “And if you string them together, you score runs. If you don’t, you don’t and you lose the game. But we had 12 hits, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Freedman produced two runs in the second with a gap-splitting triple that rolled to the wall in left center, scoring Springfield’s Nick Gorman, who singled. Harriton’s Aaron Deutsch slapped a single that scored Freedman and staked Delco to a 2-0 lead.

Morris held on to that lead with three solid innings, though the Springfield righty surrendered a run in the third when nine-man Gebre led off with a single and scored on Thylar Summarell’s Baltimore chop perfectly placed between Morris and shortstop Liam Bendo.

“You try to keep the same approach as usual, but just being out here and the atmosphere,” Morris said. “Remembering some of the things that happened out on that mound and on that field, it’s breathtaking at times. But as soon as I got out there, got the first one over, I just had to go out there and do what I’ve been doing the whole year.”

Aaron Deutsch with an RBI single to score Freedman. 2-0 Delco. pic.twitter.com/hI43H7Tu5v

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) June 21, 2016

Haverford’s Cole Humes coughed up the lead in the fourth but escaped further damage with runners on in both of his innings. Suburban One surged ahead in the seventh against Marple Newtown’s Cameron Mathes, Quakertown’s Jake Reed doubling and scoring on a single by C.B. East’s Cameron Komonchak.

Tappen doubled the lead the following inning with his round-tripper, but DiLoreto swept that aside with one swing after fellow Ram Ben Newbert singled.

Delco salvaged some momentum in the ninth when Springfield second baseman Brett Sheeran prevented a run with a sliding, over-the-shoulder catch on a pop fly to shallow right.

But the top three in Delco’s lineup went down in order in the ninth thanks to C.B. South’s Dan Klepchick, who worked the final three innings. That downbeat ending put a limited damper on the day, though, for many Delco players.

“We had confidence coming in from the past two games,” DiLoreto said. “We’ve been really hitting the ball hard. And sometimes the ball doesn’t fall in the right spot or we get runners in scoring position and we can’t produce. But the way we hit, we should be proud of ourselves. There’s no negatives really to take away from this game.”